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There are aspects of each of us that others rarely see—the dark impulses of the virtuous and principled, the warmth concealed or repressed in the distant and unemotional, the passion singeing the barricaded hearts of the phlegmatic, the anger seething beneath the chill surface of the terminally composed, the abject terror clawing at the iron core of the courageous, the murderous fantasies driving the tender pacifist to the edge of brutality or beyond, the doubts and desires that like tireless demons silently stalk the pious, all the yearnings, fears, and vulnerabilities we conceal or deny out of habit, out of need.

It’s when outside forces close in and we feel threatened, or when some trigger, hard-wired in our psyches, is tripped, or perhaps when animal instinct leaps forth to subjugate reason, that our masks slip away and we are exposed as the flawed, proud, desperate, susceptible, complex, and agonizingly human creatures we are. What is revealed might be shocking, uplifting, horrifying, or heartwarming, it might be utterly inexplicable, but it’s all a part of what we are, what we cannot help but be, and it is a large part of what makes people interesting and real, both in fiction and in life.

Dagnabbit, my book launch has been delayed. That’s right, my eagerly-awaited bestselling blockbuster novel, Ways of Leaving, originally scheduled for release on October 15, 2013, has been postponed… Read more »

Ways of Leaving

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Grant Jarrett

Chase Stoller is a beautifully mangled all-American mess. Jarrett’s ability to paint a picture of the tedium of small town America, and then to drop a character into this (Hannah) that’s right out of a Wyeth painting, well that sealed the deal for me. With pitch perfect dialogue and writing that felt like a perfect Indian summer day, "Ways Of Leaving" was that rare book that when I read the last word on the last page…I went back to page 1 and read it all over again.

Paul Hoppe, author of "The Curse of Van Gogh"

Grant Jarrett

Chase Stoller is a beautifully mangled all-American mess. Jarrett’s ability to paint a picture of the tedium of small town America, and then to drop a character into this (Hannah) that’s right out of a Wyeth painting, well that sealed the deal for me. With pitch perfect dialogue and writing that felt like a perfect Indian summer day, "Ways Of Leaving" was that rare book that when I read the last word on the last page…I went back to page 1 and read it all over again.

Paul Hoppe, author of "The Curse of Van Gogh"

Grant Jarrett

It’s official: Grant Jarrett has created the most entertaining, existential anti-hero since Tony Soprano. Whether you’re laughing out loud or wincing in recognition, "Ways of Leaving" will impress you with its raw honesty, keen writing, and ultimately, its big heart.

Grant Jarrett's vividly-drawn characters, dark humor and empathetic voice build bridges that transport the reader through this inter-generational story of parents and siblings in which the desire for salvation is challenged by the equally powerful impulse for destruction. "Ways of Leaving" depicts a seemingly familiar world that becomes freshly discovered and understood in Jarrett's intricate telling.